Did you know that on almost every day of the year, at least one member of the New York Yankee's all-time roster celebrates a birthday? The posts of the Pinstripe Birthday Blog celebrate those birthdays and offer personal recollections, career highlights, and trivia questions that will bring back memories and test your knowledge of the storied history of the Bronx Bombers.

Results tagged ‘ Cliff Mapes ’

When Babe Ruth was released by the Yankees in 1934, the team gave George Selkirk, his replacement in right field, the Babe’s uniform number “3.” Selkirk wore it until he went into military service after the 1942 season. With most of the frontline players away at war, the Yankees reached down into their minor league organization for Selkirk’s replacement, a then 28-year-old St. Louis native named Bud Metheny, and gave him uniform number 3. Metheny wore that number and started in the Yankee outfield from 1943 until 1945, when the War ended and the regular big leaguers returned to the game. Born on June 1, 1915, his best year in pinstripes was 1944, when he hit 14 home runs and drove in 67. He returned to the minors in 1946 and never again played a big league game. He then became the head baseball coach at Old Dominion University in 1948 and remained in that position for the next 32 years.

By the way, the Yankees did not retire the Bambino’s number for good until after Ruth died in 1948. After Metheny, the number was worn by Roy Bockman, Roy Weatherly, Allie Clarke and finally Cliff Mapes.

All rights reserved. No post or part of a post in this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo copy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.